World Environment Day, 2019

World Environment Day, 2019

            World Environment Day is celebrated across the globe in order to create and spread awareness about the importance of preserving and enhancing our natural environment. The United Nations, fully aware of the importance to conserve our natural environment, had chosen 5^th June as World Environment Day for the first time in the year 1972. From that day onwards, World Environment Day is observed and celebrated by different countries of the world and now it has become an enormous force in creating a positive in the minds of people towards the environment.

            Every year, World Environment Day is celebrated with a unique theme and action is taken accordingly. In 2018, the theme of World Environment Day was, “Beat Plastic Pollution”. It was hosted by India.

            The World Environment Day, 2019 is going to be hosted by China and the theme of World Environment Day 2019 is, “Air Pollution”.

            The main objective of the theme, “Beat Air Pollution” is to make people aware of the harmful effects of air pollution and the steps people should take in order to combat air pollution. If the world is successful in attaining the objectives to combat air pollution to the desired level, a lot of harmful effects of air pollution will be minimised. To attain this, we must first know what causes air pollution.

            Causes of air pollution

            The various causes of air pollution are listed below.

(i)                 Emission of gases by the vehicles.

Emission of gases in the atmosphere by the vehicles is an important cause of air pollution. As the number of vehicles on the road is increasing day by day, air pollution is increasing at a very high rate.

(ii)               Deforestation.

Deforestation is another important cause of air pollution. With less number of trees left on the planet due to deforestation, the gases like carbon dioxide cannot be absorbed in sufficient amount leading to global warming.

(iii)             Pollution from factories.

The factories dispose of a huge amount of harmful gases into the atmosphere which results in the deteriorating the quality of air leading to air pollution. The air pollution in turn affects the flora and fauna which eventually disturbs the ecological balance.

(iv)             Pollution caused by natural calamities.

Pollution can also be caused naturally with the interference of humans. Natural events such as volcanic eruption, forest fire, dust storms can also lead to air pollution.

(v)               Mining activities.

Mining activities were undertaken in order to extract minerals deposited under the earth. But while extracting minerals from beneath the earth, harmful gases are also released into the atmosphere leading to air pollution.

Effects of Air pollution

There are many harmful effects of Air pollution. Some of them are discussed below.

(i)                 Global Warming.

The global temperature of the world is increasing resulting in global warming. The increased temperature also leads to the melting of ice in the glaciers leading to the rise in the water level of the sea. Consequently, the low lying areas will be submerged under the water and thus it affects the natural environment.

(ii)               Depletion of the ozone layer.

The ozone layer is a layer in the earth’s stratosphere which protects the earth from the harmful ultraviolet radiations by not allowing the ultraviolet rays to enter the earth atmosphere.

But day by day, the ozone layer is depleting due to the presence of chlorofluorocarbons, hydrochlorofluorocarbons in the atmosphere. The harmful ultraviolet rays are responsible for causing skin and eye diseases as well as harmfully affecting the crops.

(iii)             Acid rain

Acid rain is caused when gases like sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides get mixed with droplets of rain and fall to the earth. The gases like sulphur oxides and nitrogen oxides are released into the atmosphere mostly when fossil fuels are burnt. Acid rain has harmful effects on both flora and fauna.

(iv)             Respiratory and heart diseases

Several respiratory and heart diseases are caused due to air pollution. Inhaling of the polluted air can lead to diseases like pneumonia and asthma and even cancer.

(v)               Effects on wildlife

Air pollution can have a devastating effect on the wildlife. Air pollution can lead to unfavourable living conditions to many animal species and may lead to the extinction of many of them in the near future.

What can be done to combat air pollution?

There are various ways or methods that can be used by us to combat air pollution. A few of the ways are discussed below.

(i)                 Using a renewable source of energy

Using renewable sources of energy like wind energy, hydroelectricity, solar energy etc instead of burning fossil fuels like coal and petroleum can help a lot in creating a pollution free atmosphere. Also, it helps us in saving our fossil fuels.

(ii)               Limiting the use of vehicles

By limiting the use of vehicles and using cycles or public transportation vehicles, we can achieve a lot in reducing air pollution and keeping our environment clean.

(iii)             Reduce, Reuse and Recycle

We should try to reduce the use of various things that cause air pollution. Also if possible, we should reuse it to meet our needs. If it is not possible to reuse, we should try to recycle it to use it once again. In this way, we can do a lot in keeping the air clean.

(iv)             Using pollution Abatement devices

Using chimneys in the factories to purify the exposed gases, using power efficient LED bulbs, using solar powered devices etc can also help a lot in reducing air pollution.

(v)               Creating awareness about air pollution

The most important of the ways to prevent air pollution is self-aware of the harmful effects of air pollution. If we are aware of the harmful effects of air pollution, we will definitely take effective measures to minimise the harmful effects and ultimately have a clean environment.